The present disclosure relates to multi-head centerless belt grinding systems for heavy stock removal, intermediate tolerance grinding, and fine surface polishing, normally performed in a single-pass-through operation for rods, bars, tubes, pipe, and other cylindrical workpieces, typically in lengths from 2′ (610 mm) long to over 60′ (18.3M) long, and in part diameters from 0.500″ (12.5 mm) to over 12.000″ (300 mm).
More particularly, an improved belt grinding head mounting arrangement with programmable electronic servomotor controls is provided for rapid machine changeover and set-up for multiple workpiece diameters. Furthermore, an improved grinding coolant system efficiently disposes of large amounts of grinding swarf and coolant from the grinding heads and common machine base into a separate recirculating coolant system.
Early multi-head grinding machines were configured with separate standalone grinding heads to perform sequential operations utilizing high powered abrasive belt drives from 20 HP (15 kW) to 100 HP (75 kW). The individual grinding heads sometimes moved relative to one another requiring frequent realignment for machine set-up.
Furthermore, known grinding machines typically are oriented with each grinding belt head horizontally. During the grinding operation, a large amount of coolant mixed with the material removed from the workpiece to create a grinding slurry called swarf. The horizontally oriented belt grinding head tended to collect and accumulate the swarf within the belt head assembly and machine frame. Removal of swarf from the grinding heads was very time consuming and often required major downtime and operator maintenance for cleaning and partial disassembly of the grinder.